Christmas in July

The Disney Christmas train is in Seattle for a few days during its nationwide tour of the U.S., and we went down for a while this morning to see it. The primary purpose of this whistle stop tour is to promote the upcoming Robert Zemickis film A Christmas Carol, which stars Jim Carrey as Scrooge and all the ghosts, Gary Oldman as Bob Crachit, Jacob Marley and Tiny Tim, Robin Wright Penn, Colin Firth, Cary Elwes and Bob Hoskins.

Aside from the fascinating exhibits on the motion capture technology used to produce the film, there were period costumes, exhibits about the story and its characters, and a number of items on loan from the Dickens museum in London. I was most interested in these, which included first editions of Dickens' works, handwritten manuscripts and Dickens' own quill and inkwell.

More than just an animated film, director Zemickis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump) used digital motion capture technology to record the actors' movements and facial expressions, enabling him to place the actors, in all three dimensions, into computer generated sets in order to render the scenes from the film. On the train were a number of the miniature "sets" animators used to create the world of Scrooge as it existed in the mid-nineteenth century, all of which I found fascinating. There was also a small theater set up outside the train station where we were able to screen about ten minutes of scenes from the film in 3D.

Seeing the Christmas Carol train turned out to be a nice little break from the heat and the drudgery of packing the house. It's a clever marketing tool (leave it to Disney), an educational tool for those interested in film production, and a nice exhibit of historical artifacts from one of our most revered authors.

Happy Independence Day from Pacific Grits!

Summertime in Seattle

There are few things in my life that I enjoy as much as those warm, clear summer days in Seattle when the sky is blue, the rainy season is forgotten and, as the locals say, "the mountain is out."

Today was such a day, and I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with my daughter. We took one of our outings to the Space Needle, a place my daughter has long enjoyed, a place the two of us steal off to on those rare times when just the two of us feel like getting out of the house and driving the short distance from our suburban home into the city.

It was the grownups who finished off this glorious day, enjoying a fine meal with Mike and Amy at the Cafe Septieme in Seattle's Capital Hill neighborhood. It was at this same cafe that the four of us dined on my wife's very first day in Seattle eleven short years ago.

Good times.

The Cherries are In!

I look forward to this time each year when our cherry crop comes in. It always happens the week of July 4th, and this year our cherry crop was a good one.

This means the wife whips up a delicious cherry cobbler or two, a dish she has become an expert at preparing.

My daughter was insistent that this year she be allowed up on the ladder while we gather cherries. She prefers it to her long-held job of standing at the base of the ladder with the bowl as I, risking life and limb by standing foolishly on the very top step of the ladder, attempt to reach the highest branches on the tree.

And did I mention the cobbler? Delicious!

Serving Our Country

Last week I attended a change of command ceremony for the 8th Airlift Squadron at the invitation of my good friend Steve, at the Air Force base here. (I hope he doesn’t mind me posting this.)

For a civilian it was an honor to receive an invitation to attend, and very cool to mingle with Steve and his family and the other squadron members and base officers at a reception aboard a C-17. (How those behemoths can get off the ground in the first place is beyond me, but I digress.)

The ceremony itself was memorable, and Steve’s eloquent speech to the squadron and its guests nearly moved me to tears. It’s great seeing old friends achieve success in their chosen fields, and as far as Steve is concerned, June 18 was no exception. He’s a fine officer and an even finer friend.

My best to you, old buddy, as you take on new challenges. The work you do for our country and for me, as an American, is so often underappreciated. But without you and the others serving our country in uniform, the United States would not be the remarkable place that it is.

June 18 was a day that I was not only proud to be an American, but ever so proud to be a friend of one who has made countless sacrifices to serve our great country.

A Blast from the Past - 1994

Todd and his floozy somewhere in North Charleson, SC.

Welcome Summer

The days are getting longer, and my summer is off to a great beginning. Here's what's been going on:

I am sitting up watching some great old movies on TCM: Mildred Pierce with Joan Crawford and Casablanca, a movie I never tire of. This, after taking in a pair of movies at the Seattle Film Festival this morning.

I've been blogging about a few of the many films I have seen thus far at SIFF here.

Recently, on a trip to the Pike Place Market, we visited the famous Shoe Museum. They have some very large shoes there.

Soccer season wrapped up. I am going to miss the Saturday games.

I chaperoned my daughter's field trip to the zoo last week. Chaperoning second graders on a field trip can be very exhausting.

My daughter asked me to shave for the field trip, but the morning got away from us. I have not shaved since May 22.

I have been watching the old Bob Newhart Show on DVD, with Suzanne Pleshette. What a great show.

I found eleven blog posts saved that I never uploaded. They include two bits about being a frequent flyer (which I haven't been in more than a year), a piece from March 14th about looking for spring which included a photo during my commute with four inches of snow on the hood of my car, and a few blasts from the past. Perhaps I'll post a few of these soon.

We sold our house. The challenge now is finding somewhere to go.